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Girls Girls Girls

I was watching the Cubs game last week and it was time for the beer-sponsored Fan Cam. During each game the guys in the production truck pick a theme and a song to go with it and try to provide appropriate crowd shots. It’s not my favorite part of a broadcast but I do enjoy a well-executed theme.

Well, this time around the guys in the truck had a taste for some cheesecake so they cued up “Girls Girls Girls” by Mötley Crüe and went to town. The only problem is that the song is an ode to Nikki Sixx’s favorite strip clubs. The song was so wildly inappropriate that even the usually-oblivious TV announcers groaned about it.

Since Cover Freak is all about public service, this week I’m posting some other songs they can use the next time Beer Time Fan Cam features pretty women.

Cibo Matto “About A Girl” (Nirvana)
I’ve puzzled over this song for awhile. I know it’s about a girl because the title says so. I just can’t figure out whether he likes the girl or not. Or whether she likes him for that matter. Bonus points to the folks in Cibo Matto for covering a Nirvana song that’s not “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Urge Overkill “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon” (Neil Diamond)
So they all say “the boy’s no good,” do they? I wonder why. Perhaps it’s because you’re a man sniffing around a girl who will be a woman “soon.” When she’s a woman she won’t necessarily need a man, but she will need a restraining order against you. The more you look at Neil Diamond’s lyrics the more you wonder about what kind of person he really is. I’m reminded of the Will Ferrell SNL skit where he was Neil Diamond on VH1’s Storytellers program. He started talking about how one song was about the time he killed a drifter in order to get an erection. I’m beginning to think that he wasn’t too far from the truth.

A. J. Marshall “Young Girl” (Gary Puckett and the Union Gap)
This song comes from one of the more bizarre albums I’ve ever come across. It came out in 1969 and features songs that were contemporary at the time, sung by an Al Jolson impersonator. I can’t imagine who bought this album, or who the intended audience was. You listen to this album and keep expecting him to break into “Mammy,” but he never does.

The Rhonda Harris “China Girl” (Iggy Pop)
On the whole it’s a good thing that David Bowie helped Iggy Pop get himself together in the late 70s. Iggy would probably be long dead otherwise. But I never thought much of the music they wrote together. This song didn’t impress me when Iggy recorded it and it impressed me even less when Bowie recorded it. That’s why I was amazed when I heard it done as an acoustic shuffle.

I don’t know if Rhonda Harris is a really butch sounding woman or a man with a “boy named Sue” thing going on, but either way I like it.

Dr. Calypso “Music To Watch Girls By” (Andy Williams)
A calypso/ska band from Barcelona that covers Andy Williams songs. We’re living in amazing times, people. About half of the covers of this song are instrumentals, but Dr. Calypso includes the extra-groovy lyrics. This would be a great song for the next Fan Cam, since the whole point of the exercise is girl watching.

Love the work you do. But where was the Girls Girls Girls cover to go with the suggestions? There is a great one by a band called Tuuli which was on a Crue tribute album. There is something both great and troubling about teenage girls singing about strip clubs.

Chang, I didn’t include a cover of “Girls Girls Girls” because I was trying to offer some other options for the next cheesecake fancam. Thanks for the tip on the cover, I’ll try to track it down. The idea of teenage girls singing about strip clubs both amuses and disturbs me.

Although it will probably disturb you to know it, one of Mrs. Freak’s favorite after school activities as a youngster was blaring the Neil Diamond albums owned by her BFFs older sister and so the little girls could all dance around her living room to them.